Normalcy
by WhistlingPekoe
Summary: “Well, I was wondering - do you Souls still keep pets like humans did?” he asked curiously. Wanda tipped her head with a quizzical look on her face, clearly caught off guard. :: Life in the caves is just like before - it's only missing a family pet.
1. Question

Wanderer was jerked out of her reverie quickly. The sights and sounds of the mess hall came flooding back into her brain as she looked up to see what had caught her attention. Somebody was saying her name. She recognized the voice immediately –Jamie.

"Wanda? Oh, finally! I've been calling your name for _ages_!" he said, having just sat down at the breakfast table across from Wanda and Ian. A full plate sat in front of the growing teenager and he was already shoveling it into his mouth. Ian, who sat beside Wanda, chuckled knowingly.

"Something on your mind, hon?" he asked. Wanderer looked up at him, brushing away a few stray blonde curls and smiled as she shook her head.

"Yes, Jamie?" she replied to her adoptive younger brother. He was probably about to ask her another question that he had thought of during the night about one of the previous worlds she had lived in.

"When are you next going on a raid, I was wondering?" he asked with that infamous mock innocent look on his face. Wanda frowned and exchanged a look with Ian, who had been looking at Jamie in a way somewhat similar to how Wanda had. Jamie appreciated the simple life style in the caves. Why would he be asking for something extra, now? Perhaps it was a different type of food that he wanted. The soul shifted slightly in her seat.

"Um, probably in the next month or so… why?" she asked curiously. Jamie chewed his lip. He looked as if he was thinking about how to proceed. Wanda readied herself for a long explanation of some sort. Then she realized what he probably wanted – to go on the raid with them. Even though there hadn't been a single slip up in the 8, going on 9 months that Wanda had been going on raids as Pet, she still was nowhere near comfortable with letting Jamie come along.

"Jamie! You know I can't let you go on raids… it's too dangerous. Remember what happened last time? What if the seekers came? I can't risk you getting hurt again," Wanda said as firmly as possible, though she didn't like talking that way to anybody, let alone Jamie. Ian raised his eyebrows and nodded as he slipped an arm around Wanda's slight shoulders.

"She's right, Jamie. You know she doesn't like you going," he added to Wanda's small speech. Jamie immediately shook his head, smiling slightly to himself.

"No, no, nothing like that!" the teenager said with a grin. "Though I do wish at times you would loosen up on that… I'm just as capable as any of the older people, plus that happened around a _year _ago" he added. "Well, I was wondering - do you Souls still keep pets like humans did?" he asked curiously. Wanda tipped her head with a quizzical look on her face, clearly caught off guard.

"Yes, they do. What does that have to do with going on a raid?" she asked, still not getting the idea. Ian started grinning and shaking his head.

"Kid, you can't have a pet down here… you'd have to be looking after it all the time. It just wouldn't work," the dark-haired man said to Jamie. A look of comprehension came across Wanda's face, and then she started nodding, agreeing immediately with Ian. In her short time as a regular "human" living in her little apartment, Wanda had never had any pets, and didn't want to. Jamie looked down at the table sadly, and Wanda's heart ached. He looked up at them both from under his lashes.

"It's just that I've missed it, you know, since moving down to the caves. I've always wanted a dog and Mel said we never could, being on the run and stuff. Before that, Mom was allergic. I was hoping now that we were settled down and everything, what with the raids going on all the time, we could have one," he declared with a distinct flavour of disappointment to his voice. Wanda sighed and Ian frowned at Jamie. They both knew that this was a clear guilt trip for Wanda.

"Where would you keep it? Where would it go to the bathroom? What would it eat? How would it have exercise?" Ian asked Jamie. "I used to have a dog when I was a kid and we had to take her on walks all the time, and get special food for her and stuff. How would that work down here?" Jamie paused for only a moment, clearly having thought this over.

"Look, I'm not just saying this on a whim. I think that we could section off an area and plant grass in it for the dog to to go the bathroom, and I'm sure that running around the caves every day will be good. Dog food's easy to get on the raids, because it doesn't go bad. We could even get a ball or something for it to fetch! Everybody would love it," Jamie replied, his voice high and pleading. He allowed himself to smile slightly as he looked back and forth between Wanda and Ian's faces. They looked like they were close to being convinced. And why wouldn't they be? It was a good argument, after all.

"Okay… but we have to ask Mel and Jared first," Wanda decided with a certain degree of finality in her high soprano.


	2. Affirmation

**(A/N: **Thanks everybody for the great reviews and support 3. This is my first fanfiction, and it's really encouraging to get that kind of support right from the get go! I'm sorry it took so long to get this second bit up; I've been NaNo-ing, and just haven't had the time with that and school. I promise to try and get things up more quickly from now on =). There was no note or anything at the start of the last chapter cause I wasn't sure how to do it... haha, figured it out now! **)**

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

Wanda, Ian and Jamie got up, Jamie practically leaping out of his seat in excitement. They deposited their dirty dishes by the kitchen, and proceeded to look for Melanie and Jared.

"I think they're working on the corn field," Ian suggested, his hand on the small of Wanda's back as he walked towards the hall leading to the field. Wanda nodded, as Jamie impatiently walked beside them. Actually, scratch that – he was practically bouncing. Within a minute or so, they reached the corn field. A few people were harvesting the corn. Jamie caught a glimpse of Mel's brown hair on the opposite side of the field from where they were standing. He pointed.

"I see them, over there on the opposite side," Jamie said. Wanda and Ian looked to where the boy pointed, and sure enough they could see the couple picking corn and chatting. The three walked through the field over to them, and Wanda waved at Trudy, who was also harvesting, on the way by. Trudy waved back. They approached Mel and Jared, Jamie going ahead.

"Hey Mel, hi Jared," he said casually, though Wanda could tell he was really excited to ask them. It wasn't often something this big happened in the caves. Mel looked up and smiled at him, and Jared gave him a light punch in the arm.

"Hey, kid," he greeted in a friendly manner.

"Morning," Mel said, greeting Wanda and Ian as well. She enveloped Jamie into a tight hug, and he rolled his eyes at her. Even after over a year of being back with Jamie, Melanie still never took him for granted. Being ripped away from her brother had taken its toll on her emotionally, but now left their relationship even stronger than it was before. She released him reluctantly from the hug.

"Morning Mel, Jared," Wanda replied with a warm smile. Ian wrapped his arm around Wanda's waist and nodded at Jared.

"Hey Mel," he said. Formalities over, Jamie looked at Wanda wildly.

"Can I tell them now?" he asked. Mel exchanged a questioning look with Jared, and glanced at Wanda, who was smiling now.

"You mean ask them... yes, go ahead," she said with a laugh.

"Remember when I was little and I always wanted to get a dog?" Jamie asked Mel.

"Yes..." she said slowly.

"Well, Wanda and Ian said that if it's okay with you, we can get one! The souls still have pets, you know," Jamie exclaimed. He looked at Mel with a pleading look. Her mouth stretched into a wide smile, and Jared was laughing.

"That sounds awesome! I'd love a dog around here... but you'd have to take care of it and everything..." Melanie said. Jamie cut her off.

"I know, I know! I already talked about that with Wanda and Ian. I've got a plan and everything," he said. "I'll feed it and we can walk it around the caves and stuff, and Wanda can pick up a dog training book and I'll teach it tricks and stuff." Melanie shook her head, but there was a certain sadness in her eyes.

"I'm so glad that you can finally do this... but really, it's not up to me," she explained. Wanda, Ian, Jamie and Jared all looked at her in confusion.

"Ask Jeb," she said. Wanda's eyes lit up in understanding.

"Of course! I can't believe I didn't think of asking him... it is his house, after all," Wanda said. Jamie grabbed her wrist and tugged.

"Let's go, then," Jamie said. Ian rolled his eyes but followed the two as they headed down back down the aisle made of corn, leaving Melanie and Jared behind. Melanie grabbed Jared's hand.

"This could be really good for him. Well, as long as it doesn't dig holes in the crops or something... but I hope Jeb says yes," Melanie told him.

"Yeah, I think so too. Let's hope it works out for the best." Jared replied, kissing Melanie lightly on the lips. Contentedly, they resumed their corn harvesting.

Jamie, Wanda and Ian made their way down yet another hall to the fruit tree section of the caves. In the past 9 months, everybody had been working hard on making the new field and planting fruit trees that Wanda had picked up on a raid. Now, the trees were growing wonderfully. Jeb had been spending a lot of time there working on it. They entered the large room to find him inspecting the trees. He looked up as he saw them come in, and grinned.

"Wanda, Ian, Jamie! What brings you here? Looking for more work, I hope?" he asked teasingly. Wanda laughed as they walked over to him.

"Naw, Jamie just wanted to ask you something," Ian exclaimed. Jamie had the same serious look on his face that he had when he asked Wanda and Ian. He took a deep breath and pleaded his case. Jeb nodded every now and then, and fell into silence for a bit after Jamie had finished. The three visitors waited with bated breath for Jeb's answer.

"Well, seems fine to me. You seem well motivated and I know you're responsible. It's gonna take a lot of work on your part, but if you're willing... I love dogs," Jeb said. Jamie flew forward and hugged his uncle tightly.

"Thanks Uncle Jeb! Can't wait to tell Mel..." he said, trailing off as he glanced towards the hall. "I'm thinking nobody has any allergies that I know of, cause I do like to ask when people come to live in my house. Now, how are you thinking of getting it, Wanda?" Jeb asked.

"Actually, it should be relatively simple. Obviously souls have high standards for all animals, so you're buying the animals from kennels that have been distributed evenly around areas that generally keep pets. From what I understand, they actually have a huge staff that take them for walks and everything and they're really well taken care of. They've even managed to preserve most of the breeds. I think you can just go in there and choose one... after all, there's no question of whether or not a soul would take care of the animal properly. You can get all the supplies and such while you're there, as well," Wanda explained. Jeb nodded understandingly.

"Of course they would regulate it like that... sounds good to me. I've seen some disgusting stories in my time of people mistreatin' animals. Now me, on the other hand, I had a few good ol' dogs in my time..." Jeb said, a faraway look in his eyes. Wanda smiled sadly and patted his arm.

"I truly am sorry for what I have robbed you of, Jeb," Wanda said. Jeb shook his head.

"Now Wanda, none of that nonsense," Jeb replied. It was then that they both noticed that Jamie was just heading around the corner, back into the hallway.

"I'd better go with him, Jeb. See you later, and thank you," Wanda said with a wave as she took off after Jamie.


End file.
